Clear Gallery vs the iPhone Photos app
The Photos app already does a lot. Here is exactly where each one helps, so you can use both.
Short answer
Use the Photos app to merge exact duplicates and to browse screenshots and videos by type. Use Clear Gallery to group near-identical shots, find photos by describing them, find look-alikes of an example, and review a whole category in one pre-selected list before deleting. Both work on your iPhone, and Clear Gallery is free.
Side by side
| Task | iPhone Photos app | Clear Gallery |
|---|---|---|
| Exact duplicate copies | Yes. Collections › Utilities › Duplicates, with Merge (iOS 16 and later) | Copies taken around the same time are grouped with near-identical shots |
| Near-identical shots (bursts, retakes) | Treated as separate photos | Grouped into sets; the highest-resolution photo is kept by default |
| All screenshots in one place | Yes. Collections › Media Types › Screenshots | Yes. One tap from the home screen, already selected for review |
| Find photos by describing them | Yes. Search finds places, categories, people and text; long natural descriptions need an Apple Intelligence iPhone | Yes. Plain-English descriptions on any iPhone running iOS 17 or later |
| Look-alikes of an example photo | No built-in option | Yes. Pick one to three examples |
| Every photo of one person | Yes. People & Pets | Yes. Pick a face; choose Strict, Normal or Broad matching |
| Review a category as one list before deleting | Select photos by hand | Results start selected; deselect what you want to keep |
| Shows the storage you got back | No | Yes, after every clean-up |
| Where the analysis runs | On the iPhone | On the iPhone; nothing is uploaded |
| Price | Built in | Free, no ads, no subscription |
When the Photos app is enough
If your library mostly has exact copies of the same image, or you want to clear one block of photos from a single trip, the Photos app does the job: merge the Duplicates album, or select a range by sliding your finger across the grid. See how to delete thousands of photos quickly.
When Clear Gallery saves time
Clear Gallery helps most when the clutter is spread across years: near-identical shots, screenshots, receipts and memes mixed in with photos you want to keep. It gathers each kind into one list you can review and clear at once. See how to find duplicate photos and how to find photos by describing them.
Using both
- In Photos, merge everything in Collections › Utilities › Duplicates.
- In Clear Gallery, clear screenshots, then near-identical shots, then any category you can describe.
- In Photos, empty Recently Deleted to get the space back.
Questions
Does Clear Gallery replace the Photos app?
No. It works on the same photo library and deletes through iOS, so everything you remove goes to the Photos app’s Recently Deleted album first. You keep using Photos as usual.
Is Clear Gallery more private than the Photos app?
Both analyse photos on the iPhone. Clear Gallery adds no account and no servers, and its App Store privacy label is Data Not Collected.
Sources
Steps for the built-in Photos app follow Apple’s own documentation: